NBA Draft first round up 10 percent on ESPN, ABC with uncertainty in top 3

NBA Draft coverage on ESPN and ABC averaged 4.2 million viewers this week, up 10 percent from last year.

According to the network, the show peaked in the first 15 minutes amid intrigue over who the Washington Wizards would select with the No. 1 overall pick, who was ultimately BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa.

While the minute-by-minute numbers can be hard to parse, the show peaked in the opening quarter-hour with 5.5 million viewers, per ESPN, slightly more than the peak in 2025, when Duke’s Cooper Flagg was selected by the Dallas Mavericks.

For the past two years, the NBA has split the draft into two nights. Previously, the entire event was held on a Thursday evening. Since last year, the first round has aired on Tuesday night, while the second round has aired on Wednesday night. Numbers are not yet available for the second round’s audience.

ESPN retained rights to air the draft on its new broadcast rights deal with the league. Grabbing 4-5 million on an annual basis puts the event in contention with the biggest regular-season games for most leagues outside football.

Particularly with competition from Fox’s FIFA men’s World Cup coverage this year, ESPN has to be pleased with a 4.2 million number, even if growth is inexact due to the vast expansion of Nielsen’s measurements in recent years.

The Worldwide Leader put both of its top NBA game analysts, Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson, on air this year for the draft, as well as new contributor Kenny Smith of Inside the NBA. Jefferson and Smith, however, stepped in it on the ABC broadcast when they teased Jay Williams about Williams’ infamous motorcycle accident from more than 20 years ago in a segment that immediately went viral and which Williams called “extremely uncomfortable.”